Stifel Financial announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Merchant Capital, a public finance investment banking firm headquartered in Montgomery, AL, which together with offices in Atlanta, GA and Columbia, SC, serve the Southeastern market. The strategic combination of Stifel and Merchant Capital is expected to further strengthen Stifel’s position in several key underwriting markets in the Southeast.

“The addition of Merchant Capital marks our third public finance acquisition following Stone & Youngberg in 2011 and De La Rosa in April of this year. As we look to build our public and corporate finance expertise nationwide, the Merchant team will further enhance our capabilities in the Southeast. This is a high quality team with a great reputation in the markets they serve,” said Ronald J. Kruszewski, chairman and CEO of Stifel.

Thomas Harris, chairman and CEO of Merchant Capital, stated, “For twenty-seven years we have dedicated ourselves to the public finance and affordable housing sectors of the economy. We have consistently been ranked as one of the top underwriting firms in the southeast region in public finance, and a leader nationally in affordable housing. We are excited to partner with Stifel to continue providing our clients with an extraordinary level of service, experience, and commitment to success.”

All of the senior leadership team from Merchant Capital has executed continuation agreements in support of the combination. Following the close, the Merchant Capital professionals will begin working with and integrating into the Stifel team. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Closing is expected to be in December 2014.